SPORTS SHORTS 46: ERIK MORALES THINKS MANNY PACQUIAO WILL KO RYAN GARCIA IN TWO ROUNDS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 Feb 2021
Erik 'Terrible' Morales, Hall of Famer and the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, thinks there is no other reason for a possible fight between eight division champion Manny Pacquiao and undefeated WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia. Morales, now aged 44 years with a career record of 52-9 with 36 KOs, fought Pacquiao three times, winning their first meeting by a unanimous decision, followed by two knockout defeats to the Filipino icon. He thinks the Pacquiao-Garcia bout is a mismatch.
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Morales sees the planned fight as just a chance for everyone involved to raise considerable amount of money. Aside from predicting a Pacquiao easy victory, he could foresee the eight - division world champion ending the fight in two rounds by knockout. Morales would prefer Pacquiao to face four division champion Mikey Garcia. He believes WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence and WBO champion Terence Crawford are somewhat too heavy for the elder fighter.
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“Pacquiao with Ryan is a very lopsided fight. Even though [Pacquiao] is old, he can put Ryan to bed in two rounds,” Morales told ESPN Deportes. “I think [Garcia] is taking advantage of being a popular fighter. That is the reality, he is already a champion, but he has to face the best to solidify it, because he is hardly an interim. I would love for Pacquiao to fight Mikey Garcia, who is a not a big fighter [physically]. There are Spence and Crawford, but Spence is very big, he's tough, and Crawford is a good boxer - I don't think he grabs them, they are natural welterweights, although the Filipino always surprises."
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Manny Pacquiao will be too hot to handle for Ryan Garcia if the fight gets made this year.
That’s the view of welterweight contender and PBC commentator Shawn Porter, the former WBC and IBF welterweight champion." He thinks Ryan is way over his head as reported by World Boxing News. "Showtime" Shawn guested with Sirius XM recently for an interview with AK and Barak. Likewise, he didn't think Ugas could become a champ at welterweight and didn’t know he had what it takes to beat any of those guys. He added "Ugas is a world champ because they’ve made him one, but who is he going to fight to earn it? He has to prove it." Porter thinks Spence-Ugas could be a big-time fight.
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The 22-year-old Garcia has 8.4 million Instagram followers, and an unexpected victory over a future Hall of Famer like Pacquiao will make him reach overnight stardom which he could achieve sooner or later. The Pacquiao-Garcia fight is severely dangerous due to Garcia's inexperience and the senator is still considered by several experts and fans as one of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Experts questioned Garcia's chin and head movement after he was downed during his fight against Luke Campbell.
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WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury believes Billy Joe Saunders has a good chance to upset Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a planned unification this year. Should Canelo win to defend his WBA and WBC super middleweight titles on February 27 against mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim, he reportedly will fight Saunders, the WBO title holder on May 8.
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“Me and Billy Joe Saunders, we are not journeymen, we are not in boxing for a payday," Fury told Gareth Davies. "We’re not in boxing to make some numbers up and get a few extra million quid in our bank. Not interested. We would rather have zero money and win than take fights we’re not ready for. He needs to be active and he will punch Canelo Alvarez all around the ring. Canelo Alvarez’s kryptonite is someone who boxes and moves — southpaw, slick, good feet, good hand speed, good power. Billy Joe Saunders does all of that.”
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Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James are early leaders in the first round of fan voting for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. The update was released by the NBA on Thursday and posted by ESPN. Durant led all players with 2,302,705 votes, closely followed by James' 2,288,676, the topnotcher in the Western Conference. Stephen Curry with 2.11 million was the only other player to reach 2 million votes so far, and the huge leader among Western guards. Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic with 1.39 million was second, followed by Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard with 998,853 was third.
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Durant was followed in the East's frontcourt voting by Milwaukee Bucks franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo with 1.75 million votes and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid with 1.58 million. NBA's leading scorer Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal led all Eastern backcourt players with about 1.3 million votes, and was slightly leading over Brooklyn stars James Harden with 1,093,611 and Kyrie Irving with 1,014,763.
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The 2020 Summer Olympic Games is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to be held from July 23, to August 8, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Originally set to take place from July 24, to August 9, 2020, the event was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the Games have retained the "Tokyo 2020" name for marketing and branding purposes. This is the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled. Three Olympics passed without a celebration of the Games because of the world wars. The 1916 Games were cancelled because of World War I, and the Games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled because of World War II.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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